Transparent plastic shoes



P. STAFF TRANSPARENT PLASTIC SHOES Filed Jan. 18, 1957 IN VEN TOR.

PATR c I A STAFF Q I kgf A T TQR VEYS United States Patent TRANSPARENT PLASTIC SHOES Patricia Staff, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application January 18, 1957, Serial No. 635,023

3 Claims. (CI. 36-25) My invention relates to improvements in shoes, particularly womens dress shoes, and has particular relation to an insert for transparent plastic womens shoes, which insert is colored or textured to match the ensemble being worn.

Womens shoes of the transparent plastic type have become increasingly popular as dress shoes. These shoes feature a transparent heel made of rigid plastic and a vamp or upper made of a soft, flexible plastic sheet material which is also transparent. When these shoes are worn, the stocking or the foot of the wearer is visible through the transparent upper.

For dress occasions, style requirements dictate that the shoes should match in coloring, pattern or texture, the dress, or some other part of the wearers ensemble. Ordinarily, this requires the wardrobe to include a large number of shoes in a varity of colors, textures or patterns which are selected to match the owners dresses, suits, hats, handbags, etc. Since shoes are relatively expensive wardrobe items, it is impossible for the average person to obtain a sufficient supply of shoes for this purpose. While plastic shoes are transparent and therefore of neutral color, they may be used with a variety of ensembles, but their use is limited, particularly on dress occasions.

It is an object of this invention to provide an insert for shoes of the transparent plastic type, in which the insert is colored or provided with a pattern or textured effect which matches the dress or suit or other articles of clothing or accessories of the wearer, and is visible through the transparent shoe vamp.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a shoe insert of the type described which is easily inserted and removed from the shoe, so that it may be conveniently replaced as the ensemble is changed, whereby one pair of shoes may be made to match a wide variety of ensembles.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a shoe insert of the character described in which the insert is constructed so as to be immovably mounted in the shoe without the necessity of providing fastening means therefor.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a transparent shoe and an insert made in accordance with the invention, the insert being in position to be inserted in the shoe;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the insert in flattened form;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the insert contained in the shoe; and

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the plane 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the shoe is of the conventional transparent plastic type which has a heel 12 of rigid transparent plastic, an upper or vamp 14 of flexible and bendable transparent plastic such as polyvinyl chloride, an outer sole 16 and an inner sole 18.

2,887,792 Patented May 26, 1959 As is usual, the transparent heel 12 and vamp 14 are colorless. Since the plastic vamp 14 is not porous, the vamp is invariably made open-toed to provide ventilation for the foot, and for this purpose, the vamp 14 has a cut-away toe portion 20.

The insert 22 is made of soft, bendable sheet material which is nevertheless sufficiently rigid to retain its shape within the shoe vamp. That is to say, the insert 22 must maintain itself flush against the inner surface of the vamp so that the foot may be inserted in the shoe, and it must remain in flush abutment with the inner surface of the vamp during wearing and not collapse around the wearers foot. Soft and bendable plastic sheet material has been found preferable for this purpose, as for example, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, or the like. Such plastic inserts have the advantage of being durable and capable of withstanding repeated wear, being soft and comfortable to the Wearers foot, being shape-retaining, and adhering to the inner surface of the shoe vamp.

The insert 22 may be cut or stamped from sheet material into the form shown in Fig. 2. In flat form, the insert 22 thus has a pair of identical wing sections 24 and 26 arranged angularly to each other, and a cut-away front portion 28. The insert 22 is, of course, made of an identical shape with the shoe vamp 14, but of slightly smaller size so that the insert may be bent in the same manner as the shoe vamp and inserted therewithin in such a manner that it will be maintained flush against the inner surface of the vamp, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

When inserted Within the shoe vamp 14, therefore, the insert 22 conforms exactly to the size and shape of the interior of vamp 14 so as to make a continuous inner lining therefor. The insert is merely slipped into the top of the vamp 14, so that its lower marginal edges extend into the space between the vamp 14 and the inner sole 18, as shown in Fig. 4, with the bottom edge of insert 22 resting upon the inner sole. Thus the insert is held frictionally in mounted position in the shoe. In such mounted position, the plastic sheet material of which the insert is made tends to unbend, and this tendency maintains the outer surface of the insert 22 in flush intimate contact with the inner surface of the shoe vamp 14. In addition, the insert 22 is preferably made of a vinyl resin plastic material as previously described, which has an inherent tackiness toward the polyvinyl chloride plastic material of the shoe vamp 14, so that the insert adheres to or is frictionally held by the vamp inner surface and must be peeled 01f for removal. This inherent tackiness is provided by the static electrical charge created on the surfaces of the plastic sheet materials when the latter are placed in flush abutment. No additional fastening means are therefore necessary in order to mount the insert securely and immovably within the shoe vamp.

The insert 22, or at least its outer surface, is colored with opaque coloring material in any desired manner. The outer surface may present a solid color, a pattern such as polka-dots or checks, a texture such as imitation alligator or snakeskin, or any other suitable design or texture. When the insert is mounted as above-described, the color or design is clearly visible through the transparent vamp, so that the shoe vamp has the appearance of being colored or designed accordingly. This appearance is efiected by the fact that the top and bottom edges of the insert 22 are precisely aligned with the respective top and bottom edges of the vamp 14, while in a similar manner, the front vamp cut-away portion 28 is precisely aligned with the cut away toe portion 20 of the vamp.

The user of the pair of transparent plastic shoes may thus provide herself with a number of inserts in a wide variety of colors, designs and textures, all selected to match suits, dresses, hats, handbags, or other articles in her ensemble. The inserts may be quickly and easily removed and replaced, when necessary, to match the ensemble being worn. Thus, for dress wear, or even for street wear, a single pair of shoes will serve for any occasion Where formerly a variety of pairs of shoes were required in a normal wardrobe. While the provision of a number of pairs of shoes is expensive, the inserts of the invention are of a simple nature and made of inexpensive material, so that they can be sold at very low cost and are within the range of those in the most modest circumstances.

While a preferred form of the invention has been shown and described herein, it is obvious that numerous additions, changes, and omissions may be made in this embodiment Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, while the styles of shoes and the shapes of the vamps may change, the shape of the insert will change accordingly, it being understood that the insert is shaped to correspond exactly to the vamp.

I claim:

1. In combination with a shoe having a transparent plastic vamp having a smooth inner surface, a removable insert comprising a sheet of soft, bendable plastic material shaped and sized to conform exactly to the inner surface of the shoe vamp and to be removably mounted within said shoe vamp to lie flush against the smooth inner surface of the vamp when the shoe is worn, the outer surface of the insert presenting an opaque coloring which is visible through the plastic vamp in the mounted position of the insert, the insert being formed of a plastic material having an inherent tackiness in contact with the plastic vamp and adhering to the smooth inner surface thereof whereby to hold said insert immovably in its mounted position.

2. In combination with a shoe having a transparent plastic vamp joined to an outer sole, said vamp having a smooth inner surface, and an inner sole secured to the outer sole and presenting a marginal space between the inner sole and the vamp, a removable insert comprising a sheet of soft, flexible and bendable material shaped and sized to conform exactly to the inner surface of said shoe vamp, said insert being removably and replaceably insertible within the shoe vamp to a mounted position in which it completely lines the interior surface of said vamp and being sufliciently shape-retaining to rest flush against the vamp smooth inner surface, said insert being of sufficient size to locate its lower edges extending into the marginal space between the inner sole and the vamp, whereby the insert is frictionally held in mounted position, the insert having an opaque outer surface underlying the entire vamp and visible through the transparent plastic vamp in the mounted position of the insert.

3. A shoe insert according to claim 2 in which the insert is made of bendable plastic sheet material capable of adhering to the smooth inner surface of the plastic vamp, whereby the insert in mounted position is maintained in flush abutment with the vamp inner surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent (Copy in Div. 11.) 

